Majority of Germans want Merkel's conservatives, FDP, Greens to form government

Reuters Staff

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BERLIN (Reuters) - More than half of Germans, 57 percent, want a three-way coalition between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens to govern their country, a Forsa survey for Stern magazine showed on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel greets people during German Unification Day celebrations in Mainz, Germany, October 3, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Merkel’s conservatives emerged from a Sept. 24 national election as the biggest party but in need of a partner or partners to form a government.

A “Jamaica” coalition of the conservatives, FDP and Greens - so called because their black, yellow and green colours, which match those of the Jamaican flag - is untested at the national level but is shaping up to be the most likely option.

The Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in Merkel’s ruling coalition for the last four years, want to go into opposition after suffering their worst result since 1933.

Only 26 percent of Germans wanted a continuation of the ‘grand coalition’ between conservatives and SPD, the survey of 1,003 people conducted between Sept. 28 and 29 showed.